Weekend Preview: 11 State Championships In One Weekend


Indiana State Championships: 

The individual championships will be fierce, with Gabe Fendel, ranked No. 4 on our Flo50 national rankings, vying for his first state title after finishing as the runner-up in 2016. He's the No. 1 runner in the state with a PR of 15:05.88, but he'll have to go up against Cole Hocker, who beat Fendel in the Sectional in Noblesville on October 7. Then there's the girls championship. Watch out for Dekalb's Tyler Schwartz, who won this race a year ago. She's the returning champion and enters with a top time of 17:29.00. She'll have competition in Phoebe Bates, Zoe Duffus, and Emma Wilson. In the team race, there are four girls teams to watch. That includes Fort Wayne Carroll, Brebeuf Jesuit, Carmel, and Zionsville. All four could compete for a title. Carmel won the title a season ago. On the boys side, it's Carmel's championship to lose, though Fort Wayne Carroll won the trophy a season ago and Westview is certainly no slouch, either. 

Iowa State Championships: 

Two runners to watch out for on the boys side are Matthew Carmody, who runs in 2A, and Gable Sieperda, who will compete in 4A. Both runners finished third in their respective classes a season ago and are contenders to win championships this season. In the girls race, Class 4A Johnston looks to be the strongest contender to win a championship on the team side, while Bailey Nock will be going for her second-straight win. In Class 2A, Anna Hostetler and Marie Hostetler will not only work off each other and go for individual success, but their Mid-Prairie team will hope to earn a state title, too. Watch out for that and more in Iowa. 

Colorado State Championships

In Colorado, we have a showdown with big national rankings implications between Mountain Vista and Broomfield. Montana Vista is ranked Flo50 No. 5 while Broomfield is ranked Flo50 No. 10. The two saw each other last year at the state meet where Broomfield ran away with the seven-point victory. Watch for another close one this year. In 3A we will also get to see Quinn McConnell No. 20 on the Flo50 rankings race for a state title. She was the state champion in 2015 as a freshman but took runner-up honors in 2016 to Kayla Young in 2016. She will look to take home the crown again this weekend.

Watch out for Ani Veltcheva at the FLYRA Middle School State Championships. Veltcheva is looking to reclaim her title after setting a meet record in 2016 running 10:38. She's one of the biggest names on the middle school stage in not only Florida but the entire country having won the AAU Nationals 3000m for 13-year-olds last summer.